Legalize Pot and Tax It?

[Misty]

I'm for legalizing pot with NO tax. It's medicine.

 

[Paulie]

I just want the opponents to cite constitutional authority to legislate it at the federal level.

RGS analogizing the legalization of it with legalizing breaking into people's homes and murdering them is ridiculous. The constitution authorizes legislating murder due to the inalienable right to life.

I don't see jack shit that gives congress the authority to legislate marijuana.

It's a states' rights issue.

 

[Bullfighter]

I'm for legalizing pot with NO tax. It's medicine.

What does it cure? It unblocks those bank accounts pretty fast.

 

[Bullfighter]

I just want the opponents to cite constitutional authority to legislate it at the federal level.

RGS analogizing the legalization of it with legalizing breaking into people's homes and murdering them is ridiculous. The constitution authorizes legislating murder due to the inalienable right to life.

I don't see jack shit that gives congress the authority to legislate marijuana.

It's a states' rights issue.

The fact that it comes accross the border makes it a national security issue.

 

[Paulie]

I just want the opponents to cite constitutional authority to legislate it at the federal level.

RGS analogizing the legalization of it with legalizing breaking into people's homes and murdering them is ridiculous. The constitution authorizes legislating murder due to the inalienable right to life.

I don't see jack shit that gives congress the authority to legislate marijuana.

It's a states' rights issue.

The fact that it comes accross the border makes it a national security issue.

I don't have enough time in my day to point out all the fallacies in this.

For starters though, weed grows in the US as well. It doesn't distinguish between nations when it grows. It just wants dirt, water, and sunlight.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

The best justification for legalization is the doctrine of "no harm...no foul" Our prisons are overcrowded with non-violent drug offenders. I don't care if they sell it at the corner liquor store or not. Just stop arresting people for MJ offenses

There is harm. It harms everyone that uses it and their families. Currently it fuels crime and murder. Legalizing may or may not stop that. Funny how moonshine is still made illegally and sold. And crime occurs around that as well and it has been legal how long?

People murder for marijuana???

Dumb ass, people that grow MJ in large amounts murder people all the time, a few years back Hawaii had to send the Guard into an area because the pot growers were better armed then the police that tried to stop them, after said pot growers had murdered several people.

 

[Paulie]

There is harm. It harms everyone that uses it and their families. Currently it fuels crime and murder. Legalizing may or may not stop that. Funny how moonshine is still made illegally and sold. And crime occurs around that as well and it has been legal how long?

People murder for marijuana???

Dumb ass, people that grow MJ in large amounts murder people all the time, a few years back Hawaii had to send the Guard into an area because the pot growers were better armed then the police that tried to stop them, after said pot growers had murdered several people.

I already cleared it up for him without insulting him.

 

[MikeK]

This would be the greatest marketing trick ever played on an unsuspecting public.

The price would shoot up to the point where drug cartels might deal exclusively in pot. Look at how much some people are taxed on cigarettes:

http://tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0267.pdf

Now imagine that tacked on to the price of your weed. You'll go running back to your street dealer.

When booze was illegal the price of a quart of good Scotch whiskey on the bootleg market was around five times what it cost after Repeal, even though a substantial tax was imposed on it. So it would be counterproductive to tax whiskey (or marijuana) so high that it would promote bootlegging.

Consider that the cost to grow an ounce of marijuana, a weed, on a large farm, would be somewhere around a dollar at the very most, the growers, processors and distributors could all make a handsome profit if the ounce were sold for ten dollars. So if an ounce of legal pot is sold at retail for a hundred dollars, ninety dollars being state and local tax revenue, that is still less than half the price on the bootleg market.

But a hundred dollars is still high enough to encourgage people to grow their own and there would be low level bootlegging. So it's likely that the price of legal marijuana would eventually settle at around forty or fifty dollars an ounce.

Plus, you just told your kids that drugs are OK because you legalized them.

What you've done in that slippery little sentence, whether intentionally or unintentionally, is employ the same verbal paso doble the drug warriors have been using to demonize marijuana, which is to couch it in the category of "drugs," thereby subliminally associating it with such harmful and addictive substances as amphetamines, crack etc.

Once you legalize pot, the offense for bringing it over the border will vanish. Cartels could do as they please out in the open. What is the worst that could happen to a typical drug pushing scumbag. Tax-evasion? Big deal. Most border jumpers are experts at that already.

Repealing alcohol prohibition crippled the bootleg syndicates and tax evasion put Al Capone in prison, where he died.

So yeah. Legalize it. Every country that has is going through a phase of dehumanization. Prostitution and the sex trades now becomes a way of life. That is too high a price to pay.

Marijuana is virtually legal in The Netherlands, so is prostitution, and that country enjoys a higher standard of living than the U.S. in every way. They presently are experimenting with a program to supply addicts with heroin and it has dramatically reduced their crime and HIV infection rate.

 

[rightwinger]

There is harm. It harms everyone that uses it and their families. Currently it fuels crime and murder. Legalizing may or may not stop that. Funny how moonshine is still made illegally and sold. And crime occurs around that as well and it has been legal how long?

People murder for marijuana???

Dumb ass, people that grow MJ in large amounts murder people all the time, a few years back Hawaii had to send the Guard into an area because the pot growers were better armed then the police that tried to stop them, after said pot growers had murdered several people.

If the crop were legal...why would anyone be killed protecting it?

 

[Misty]

I think pot should become like wine.

Chardonnay pot, burgundy pot, champagne pot, merlot pot....

 

[Bullfighter]

When booze was illegal the price of a quart of good Scotch whiskey on the bootleg market was around five times what it cost after Repeal, even though a substantial tax was imposed on it. So it would be counterproductive to tax whiskey (or marijuana) so high that it would promote bootlegging.

Consider that the cost to grow an ounce of marijuana, a weed, on a large farm, would be somewhere around a dollar at the very most, the growers, processors and distributors could all make a handsome profit if the ounce were sold for ten dollars. So if an ounce of legal pot is sold at retail for a hundred dollars, ninety dollars being state and local tax revenue, that is still less than half the price on the bootleg market.

But a hundred dollars is still high enough to encourgage people to grow their own and there would be low level bootlegging. So it's likely that the price of legal marijuana would eventually settle at around forty or fifty dollars an ounce.

First of all, your comparing alcoholic beverages, something that virtually all European cultures approved of before and after Prohibition, to a drug that most people see as illegal and without benefit. This drug was forced into the US culture by drug cartels starting up in the late 60's and early 70's. And yes I know about a few jazz musicians who got high in the 40's

I live just outside of Chicago and my neighbor used to brew for the mob. We know all about Capone and more of the truth than most people. Since your product will grow virtually anywhere, why do pot users even need to buy it? It is because those same users are lazy and not as industrious as the Prohibition era people who made their own booze. The law wasn't as enforced as many think either. There were more speak-easies during Prohibition than there are bars and taverns today. That is because booze is so plentiful, most people drink at home.

Now when I was in high school in the early 70's, my local tavern sold a quart of beer for maybe 50 cents. I think a six pack went for $1.50 retail from a bar. What is it today?

What you've done in that slippery little sentence, whether intentionally or unintentionally, is employ the same verbal paso doble the drug warriors have been using to demonize marijuana, which is to couch it in the category of "drugs," thereby subliminally associating it with such harmful and addictive substances as amphetamines, crack etc.

It is a drug because it is used to alter your perceptions. I hate the term "mood altering" because that can apply to eating a Twinkie. And some people have a beer with lunch as a beverage. Do you smoke pot in place of eating or drinking?

Repealing alcohol prohibition crippled the bootleg syndicates and tax evasion put Al Capone in prison, where he died.

The BIGGEST OF ALL BULLSHIT! Repealing Prohibition put a dent into the mob but hardly hurt it. Remember what I said. I live just outside of Chicago. I've seen the places most people just read about in books. Chicagoland was filled with gambling joints and whore houses. The Mob was here before Prohibition and it is still here but they bought their way into legitimate businesses just like the drug cartels do.

Do some research:
frontline: drug wars | PBS

Marijuana is virtually legal in The Netherlands, so is prostitution, and that country enjoys a higher standard of living than the U.S. in every way. They presently are experimenting with a program to supply addicts with heroin and it has dramatically reduced their crime and HIV infection rate.

A "higher" standard of living?

 

[MikeK]

When one uses the excuse that we can not stop it and we can tax it as the main defense for legalization one opens a can of worms.

Burglary and armed robbery can not be stopped either. House break ins account for MILLIONS of crimes a year. Lets legalize it, sell permits and tax the profits. We could be rolling in dough.

Legalizing marijuana will not reduce property crime because marijuana is not addictive so it doesn't motivate users to steal. The majority of residential burglarly is perpetrated by heroin addicts. When the Netherlands started giving heroin addicts their daily fix the rate of property crime underwent a dramatic decrease and their prison population reduced considerably.

And don't start with the false claim that MJ does not harm anyone. It harms anyone that uses it. Even legalized.

You believe it's a false claim because you've been indoctrinated by drug war propaganda to believe that marijuana is generally harmful when in fact it is not. If you disagree, please present some credible evidence to support your claim. But before you do I suggest that you go here and educate yourself a bit: Exposing Marijuana Myths - A Review of the Scientific Evidence

 

[MikeK]

[...]

There is harm. It harms everyone that uses it and their families.

How? Specifically? And show evidence.

Currently it fuels crime and murder.

That's true -- because it is illegal. It is precisely analogous to alcohol prohibition. When Prohibition was repealed the crime rate decreased immediately and significantly.

Legalizing may or may not stop that.

Now that's a confidently assured observation.

Funny how moonshine is still made illegally and sold. And crime occurs around that as well and it has been legal how long?

Who but the most degenerate alcoholic would want to drink "moonshine" when there is an unlimited supply of the most sophisticated forms of distilled beverage alcohol available from the average liquor store?

I am seventy-four years old and I have never even heard of anyone drinking or wanting to drink "moonshine," or even where it was sold. As far as I'm aware "moonshine" was a product of Prohibition and it was responsible for blinding and killing a lot of people.

 

[MikeK]

DUMB ASS troll. The Government has a duty to protect the citizenry from certain things, illegal drugs is one of them. By the way Moon shining is STILL occurring with crime associated with it.

So let me get this straight..

The Government allows alchohol to be produced as long as it meets safety and purity standards.They also tax the hell out of it. If you moonshine and produce a product that is potentially harmful (and untaxed) they will arrest you

How is marijuana any different? Let people grow it. Make sure it meets government standards. Tax the shit out of it. And leave people the hell alone

Alcohol is legal because of an Amendment. You want pot legal? Get an amendment passed.

Alcohol is legal because the Amendment that made it illegal was repealed. There is no Constitutional Amendment affecting marijuana, just a bunch of fraudulently and stupidly conceived laws which need to be stricken or changed.

 

[MikeK]

Another day, another opportunity to whine about pot not being legalized. Some things never seem to change. You have to draw the line somewhere on drug use. The line has been drawn with pot. Get over it.

We should probably draw the line somewhere on foods harmful to our bodies, too.

Too many people are getting fat and dying earlier in life. It's time to draw the line at Ho-Ho's.

That is an excellent point which is too seldom acknowledged. Obesity kills millions but there is not a single case of anyone ever dying or being medically harmed by marijuana.

 

[Toro]

Legalize pot.

Its is far less harmful than booze and smokes.

The War on Drugs is an abject failure. The cost to society is enormous. It enriches and empowers criminal syndicates, and corrupts and destabilizes whole nations, including ones that are critical to national security. It is a waste.

 

[MikeK]

What is it about you pot smokers that make the words "Not Legal" so hard to understand and accept? You're like little children with the arguements... Always whining, always offering up lame excuses for why it should be ok behavior, and never accepting what the general public desire as a norm. Same old shit all the time and the same old tired reasons why it should be ok. Come up with something new for a change...

At the present time the general public is significantly predisposed to at least decriminalizing marijuana. But if the general public were told the truth about marijuana rather than being indoctrinated by decades of lies and misinformation you may rest assured that all but the most hopelessly stupid would be demanding immediate legalization.

As far as your inclination to blindly obey any law without considering its valid purpose, this orientation places you in the category of authoritarian submissive, meaning you would have been a perfect Nazi. Because all those in that category need is some authority (law) to point them in a given direction and away they go without question.

 

[MikeK]

So yeah. Legalize it. Every country that has is going through a phase of dehumanization. Prostitution and the sex trades now becomes a way of life. That is too high a price to pay.

Nice try

Countries with a liberal view towards pot smoking also have a liberal view towards sex trade

Of course. Because their on pot when they pass those laws. Do you want your children to be in the sex trade?

If that's the best you can do in terms of creative drug warrior propaganda you should give it up and try something less embarrassing.

 

[MikeK]

Dumb ass, people that grow MJ in large amounts murder people all the time, a few years back Hawaii had to send the Guard into an area because the pot growers were better armed then the police that tried to stop them, after said pot growers had murdered several people.

Sounds a lot like the alcohol Prohibition wars. Don't you think this kind of thing is just one good reason to legalize marijuana and put an end to it?

 

[Charles_Main]

There is harm. It harms everyone that uses it and their families. Currently it fuels crime and murder. Legalizing may or may not stop that. Funny how moonshine is still made illegally and sold. And crime occurs around that as well and it has been legal how long?

People murder for marijuana???

Dumb ass, people that grow MJ in large amounts murder people all the time, a few years back Hawaii had to send the Guard into an area because the pot growers were better armed then the police that tried to stop them, after said pot growers had murdered several people.

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why they do? It's not because they smoke pot man. It is because there are Huge profits to be made in growing and selling pot on the black market. BECAUSE IT IS ILLEGAL! Remove the illegality, and you remove the Profit Motivation, and take the product out of the shady black market where people kill each other of stuff, and into the regular, regulated, and Taxed Market.